I find it a little bizarre to see Scythe described as "There’s nothing intuitive at all about the rules of Scythe, and it’s the kind of game that will likely keep even experienced players peeking at the rule book" and "steep learning curve".

I'm sorry, what bizzarro universe is this?

One of the things that makes Scythe so great is that even though it does have somewhat complex rules, the way the game wraps them up and organises everything makes it a snap to learn and play. For some people anyway.

When I first played it with two friends, two of us picked up the rules very quickly while the third struggled for quite some time.

For me (and my one friend) we found the way in which the game boards organise your actions, the payments required to take them and the rewards earned involved to be very clear and logical. Pick a lane on your board, start at the top and work your way down paying costs (marked with red) and taking rewards (marked with green) as you reach them (Yes, I am glossing over the fact that the top half and bottom half of each lane are technically separate actions but it's really not that big a leap, I think).

It really is that simple. Sure, you might have to look at the manual now and then to confirm bonuses provided by buildings but by and large the actually core mechanics of the game are brilliantly simple.

For reference, when I am comparing mechanical complexity of Scythe to other games the other games included Eldritch Horror, Android: NetRunner and DoomTown: Reloaded. Yes, I'm aware those games are complex but I think out of all of them Scythe has by far the most logical, well designed mechanisms and its really quite debatable as to whether its close to as complex as those three games...

It says "Local multiplayer" on the Steam page. Does that mean multiple people can play at one PC and there are no issues with being able to see things that other players have? E.g. 4 people playing on one PC isn't a problem because there's nothing "secret".

Also could you play it on a touchscreen, e.g. Windows tablet/touchscreen monitor.

It says "Local multiplayer" on the Steam page. Does that mean multiple people can play at one PC and there are no issues with being able to see things that other players have? E.g. 4 people playing on one PC isn't a problem because there's nothing "secret".

Also could you play it on a touchscreen, e.g. Windows tablet/touchscreen monitor.

Yes, Local Multiplayer means Hot-seat. There are a few bits of hidden info in Scythe but it's mostly open.

I'm not entirely confident that a mobile port will be viable. Ha. Seems to fit a PC monitor though.

20 bucks should be fine really. It won't serve as the digital 'demo' for the full game at that price, but i could still take a chance on this, at that price as a videogame esp considering that the game itself is quirky and yet a massive investment in time.

I honestly like board game apps the most for mobile gaming because they're turn based, not monetized with nonsense and are randomized by design for replayability.

While we're on the topic, it's a shame that the granddaddy of digital modern strategy board games, axis and allies, is lingering without an official port. It was the first digital board game I payed for.

I assume this is just the base game and not any of the expansions? I think I may try this. Been wanting the board game for a while but haven't because of cost and complexity. Probably pick this up for $20

You know what old-school game is ripe for a modern digital adaptation? Starfleet Battles, a direct adaptation rather than something like Starfleet Command games. A super good game, but all that bookkeeping means it's damn near impossible to get into or play in an afternoon.

The implication that $20 for a board game port is somehow a lot of money seems crazy to me. When you're talking about a very good board game, a high quality adaptation, and reasonably competent bots, a $20 launch price is a steal.

Added to my wish list for the eventual steam sale. Seen it played once or twice in RL but not sure I could get anyone in my family to play right now so definitely not going to spend $80 on the board game.

The implication that $20 for a board game port is somehow a lot of money seems crazy to me. When you're talking about a very good board game, a high quality adaptation, and reasonably competent bots, a $20 launch price is a steal.

Just the "reasonably competent bots" part is worth 20 bucks. Certainly seen some higher price video games fail spectacularly in that category....

Added to my wish list for the eventual steam sale. Seen it played once or twice in RL but not sure I could get anyone in my family to play right now so definitely not going to spend $80 on the board game.

It's sitting in our front room gathering dust, since by the time our circle finishes dinner and is ready to bust out games we're several bottles of wine in...

It´s strange how everybody writing about Scythe has either missed or pretends that Jakub Rozalski wasn´t caught stealing ideas, tracing all of his art and making fake tutorials to cover it up. The concept is basically "Dust Tactics" with an aditional faction and much of the art is traced from copyrighted photos and sometimes other art. https://i.imgur.com/ndWfHzY.jpg

20 bucks isn't that much, unless you fear the game no longer working in the future due to being digital. 20 bucks also means that if there are problems the game should also be updated and fixed instead of just having updates for the first few months of the game release and then let it die. And tes that does happen with Steam games.

It´s strange how everybody writing about Scythe has either missed or pretends that Jakub Rozalski wasn´t caught stealing ideas, tracing all of his art and making fake tutorials to cover it up. The concept is basically "Dust Tactics" with an aditional faction and much of the art is traced from copyrighted photos and sometimes other art. https://i.imgur.com/ndWfHzY.jpg

I've posted this before, but it bears repeating. In all of history, there are only two original stories. Romeo and Juliet...

And Die Hard 2.

Most works are derivative, standing on the shoulders of those who came before. Not worth grinding an axe over it.

It´s strange how everybody writing about Scythe has either missed or pretends that Jakub Rozalski wasn´t caught stealing ideas, tracing all of his art and making fake tutorials to cover it up. The concept is basically "Dust Tactics" with an aditional faction and much of the art is traced from copyrighted photos and sometimes other art. https://i.imgur.com/ndWfHzY.jpg

Are you really bringing this chestnut up again?

Also, I gotta be honest, this Dust Tactics claim is hilarious because the fact of the matter is that alternate history WW1/2 with steam-punky mecha elements is not new. It wasn't new when Dust Tactics came out either. I have on my shelf a copy of the RPG setting book Gear Krieg which I bought back in the early 2000s when I was at university. A lot of the art in that book and the miniatures you can find associated with that game look *awfully* similar to the stuff I'm seeing in Dust Tactics. I guess Dust must also be crooks!!!

Or, you know, maybe the idea of alternate history WW1/2 with steam-punky mecha is just not that original and unique and maybe, just maybe, artists working in this genre who tend to draw their visual inspiration from the real-world equipment of the time tend towards similar visual themes precisely because they're deriving their content from the real world...

Yes I am.. I think it´s work bringing up even though it´s been what.. 4 months

Look...I agree that there´s a lot of steampunk alternative history out there. You are also right that Gear Krieg and Dust Tactics look similar. One of the reasons is certainly the fact that the concepts for both games are based on real WWII armour but Dust Could have easily “borrowed” a lot from Krieg. That wouldn´t make them crooks as you put it but unoriginal copycats. There are franchises that take a story told many times but bring their own original visual flavor like Wolfenstein if you ask me.

My point is that the more you read about Jakub Rozalski the more it looks like everything he´s done is either “borrowed” or just outright stolen. Beginning with the concept and ending with the art. He was caught tracing copyrighted photos and art without asking for permission or crediting the original artists and he´s been making fake tutorials to cover it up. That’s precedence in the art world unless you know some other artist that takes his time to make fake process pictures to make himself look better. His previous project looked like a cheap copy of Warhammer drawn by a twelve-year-old and then his +1920 world materialized out of nowhere whith realistic renditions that look suspeciously similair to other peoples work as wel as Dust Tactics so it´s not strange some get suspicious (in hindsight rightly so).

I have no problem with people liking his art and SCYTHE is a great game but don´t get pissed if people point out that the "artist" is a hack that steals, traces , repeats the same motif and lies about his process.

I get you and I even agree but the concept part is just a small piece of something bigger. He was caught tracing other peoples photos and art without asking for permission or credit to the original artists. Thats art theft and could get him or even worse his clients in trouble. On top of that he´s also made fake tutorials to cover it up and make himslef look like a better artist. His previous game looked like a cheap copy of Warhammer. The more you read about him the shadier he seems.

I agree that there´s almost no original content out there but most people at least try to put their own spin on it. Here it looks like he changed out the names of the mechs and factions and then signed it.

"Scythe has been among the top-rated games on BoardGameGeek since its 2016 release thanks to an extremely well-balanced design, very little randomness, and the use of many different mechanics in a single game. But it comes with a steep learning curve—both for rules and strategy"

hmmm, well, it's highly rated but by whom? The serious gurus don't rate it. I think it probably scratches an itch and the complexity hides its (big) flaws.

Here's one top guru's view :

" Very messy, scattershot, unfocussed design - tons of levers to pull, but in practice extremely constrained choices. An odd mix of an efficiency design with a point salad aesthetic - a ton of tracks and different ways to score points, but an economic development engine that forces you to specialize. Having said all this, I think Scythe is decent for what it is. If you like Feld games and 4X games, you'll probably find something here to like; it works, it's not terrible. I just find this sort of kitchen-sink design unappealing."

About the most positive review was this:

"Pleasant, if entirely over-hyped, 4X game. The whimsical encounters are fun but not exactly conducive to proper planning, and there seems to be a distinct lack of replayability once you've played the races. But the battle mechanic is definitely preferable to chucking dice about, and the art and theme works pretty well for those who want to storytell."

The over-hyped comment is interesting because I've noticed that this is an issue that may have something to do with BGG's weird out of 10 rating system that goes on how willing you would be to play a game *currently* (ie, revised down as you get bored and move on), and not how good you really think it is. The result is some interesting distortions.

"Scythe has been among the top-rated games on BoardGameGeek since its 2016 release thanks to an extremely well-balanced design, very little randomness, and the use of many different mechanics in a single game. But it comes with a steep learning curve—both for rules and strategy"

hmmm, well, it's highly rated but by whom? The serious gurus don't rate it. I think it probably scratches an itch and the complexity hides its (big) flaws.

Here's one top guru's view :

" Very messy, scattershot, unfocussed design - tons of levers to pull, but in practice extremely constrained choices. An odd mix of an efficiency design with a point salad aesthetic - a ton of tracks and different ways to score points, but an economic development engine that forces you to specialize. Having said all this, I think Scythe is decent for what it is. If you like Feld games and 4X games, you'll probably find something here to like; it works, it's not terrible. I just find this sort of kitchen-sink design unappealing."

About the most positive review was this:

"Pleasant, if entirely over-hyped, 4X game. The whimsical encounters are fun but not exactly conducive to proper planning, and there seems to be a distinct lack of replayability once you've played the races. But the battle mechanic is definitely preferable to chucking dice about, and the art and theme works pretty well for those who want to storytell."

The over-hyped comment is interesting because I've noticed that this is an issue that may have something to do with BGG's weird out of 10 rating system that goes on how willing you would be to play a game *currently* (ie, revised down as you get bored and move on), and not how good you really think it is. The result is some interesting distortions.

Oh, you again with your boardgamegeek gurus and cynicism of popular games. I remember you trashing games despite never have playing them. It's hard to take a cynic like you seriously. Most people who have played Scythe love it, whether you believe it or not

I get you and I even agree but the concept part is just a small piece of something bigger. He was caught tracing other peoples photos and art without asking for permission or credit to the original artists. Thats art theft and could get him or even worse his clients in trouble. On top of that he´s also made fake tutorials to cover it up and make himslef look like a better artist. His previous game looked like a cheap copy of Warhammer. The more you read about him the shadier he seems.

I agree that there´s almost no original content out there but most people at least try to put their own spin on it. Here it looks like he changed out the names of the mechs and factions and then signed it.

So basically you made an account to trash someone. Your life must be pretty dull, if you don't have anything better to do.

"So basically you made an account to trash someone. Your life must be pretty dull, if you don't have anything better to do."

I guess you got me there. My life is pretty dull. Great argument..check mate.

I´m just not ok with art theft and dishonesty. It´s as good of a reson to register and join the discussion. I´m more surprised how people defend Jakub Rozalski or how you made a post just to point out that I´ve made a post.. which is kinda pointless and a brings you down to my level of dullness ..get a life dude

I get you and I even agree but the concept part is just a small piece of something bigger. He was caught tracing other peoples photos and art without asking for permission or credit to the original artists. Thats art theft and could get him or even worse his clients in trouble. On top of that he´s also made fake tutorials to cover it up and make himslef look like a better artist. His previous game looked like a cheap copy of Warhammer. The more you read about him the shadier he seems.

I agree that there´s almost no original content out there but most people at least try to put their own spin on it. Here it looks like he changed out the names of the mechs and factions and then signed it.

When you say he was caught, was he literally caught? In the act?

Or did some guy just put together a JPEG on imgur noting similarities and that's it, case closed?

Also, please use the forum quoting system. This thing you're doing where you just stick it in double-quotes is super hard to read...

"Scythe has been among the top-rated games on BoardGameGeek since its 2016 release thanks to an extremely well-balanced design, very little randomness, and the use of many different mechanics in a single game. But it comes with a steep learning curve—both for rules and strategy"

hmmm, well, it's highly rated but by whom? The serious gurus don't rate it. I think it probably scratches an itch and the complexity hides its (big) flaws.

Here's one top guru's view :

" Very messy, scattershot, unfocussed design - tons of levers to pull, but in practice extremely constrained choices. An odd mix of an efficiency design with a point salad aesthetic - a ton of tracks and different ways to score points, but an economic development engine that forces you to specialize. Having said all this, I think Scythe is decent for what it is. If you like Feld games and 4X games, you'll probably find something here to like; it works, it's not terrible. I just find this sort of kitchen-sink design unappealing."

About the most positive review was this:

"Pleasant, if entirely over-hyped, 4X game. The whimsical encounters are fun but not exactly conducive to proper planning, and there seems to be a distinct lack of replayability once you've played the races. But the battle mechanic is definitely preferable to chucking dice about, and the art and theme works pretty well for those who want to storytell."

The over-hyped comment is interesting because I've noticed that this is an issue that may have something to do with BGG's weird out of 10 rating system that goes on how willing you would be to play a game *currently* (ie, revised down as you get bored and move on), and not how good you really think it is. The result is some interesting distortions.

I'm pretty sure Tom Vassal had mostly positive things to say and I'm pretty sure that for every negative review you can find at least two positive ones.

I do see what people are saying about the encounter system, it is pretty weak compared to the stuff in proper narrative-focused games but that doesn't make them completely uninteresting. Honestly, they add a nice vein of humour to the game :-)

You can say what you like but the fact remains that Scythe is largely rated positively for a reason. Sure, it's not rated positively by everyone, but then what game is? Does it matter? If you play Scythe and enjoy it then it's a win. If you played it and didn't, just resell it. There's really no need to make a big deal about how some people didn't think it's thaaaaaaaaat amazing.

"Scythe has been among the top-rated games on BoardGameGeek since its 2016 release thanks to an extremely well-balanced design, very little randomness, and the use of many different mechanics in a single game. But it comes with a steep learning curve—both for rules and strategy"

hmmm, well, it's highly rated but by whom? The serious gurus don't rate it. I think it probably scratches an itch and the complexity hides its (big) flaws.

Here's one top guru's view :

" Very messy, scattershot, unfocussed design - tons of levers to pull, but in practice extremely constrained choices. An odd mix of an efficiency design with a point salad aesthetic - a ton of tracks and different ways to score points, but an economic development engine that forces you to specialize. Having said all this, I think Scythe is decent for what it is. If you like Feld games and 4X games, you'll probably find something here to like; it works, it's not terrible. I just find this sort of kitchen-sink design unappealing."

About the most positive review was this:

"Pleasant, if entirely over-hyped, 4X game. The whimsical encounters are fun but not exactly conducive to proper planning, and there seems to be a distinct lack of replayability once you've played the races. But the battle mechanic is definitely preferable to chucking dice about, and the art and theme works pretty well for those who want to storytell."

The over-hyped comment is interesting because I've noticed that this is an issue that may have something to do with BGG's weird out of 10 rating system that goes on how willing you would be to play a game *currently* (ie, revised down as you get bored and move on), and not how good you really think it is. The result is some interesting distortions.

Oh, you again with your boardgamegeek gurus and cynicism of popular games. I remember you trashing games despite never have playing them. It's hard to take a cynic like you seriously. Most people who have played Scythe love it, whether you believe it or not

Lol! Yes, it's me again. Mr Negative. but I prefer to be called itsastickup. haha!

But really it's because Ars has a way of sliding hyped games in to view that often need a counter-point. At least one of the gurus is more like a critic or analyst (Chriss Farrell). He slices and dices games in a way that Tom Vassel doesn't (he seems to like almost everything), and punctures the hype. I've avoided spending a lot of money as a result. And I think that's a service to those of us of less experience who might otherwise get carried away with it all. Which is easy to do.

Yes he was caught in the act. Somebody ran into his house and filmed him tracing No..of course I don´t mean that so lets talk like sensible people.

Here´s what I knowThere are several posts and articles by now and around 40 images that have been found in total (new keep surfacing). That´s a lot considering that these are hard to find. Some of them have been confirmed to be copyrighted. Jamey Stegmaier was trying to put out some fires when the news broke and said that Jakub would credit some of the artists. That was 4 months ago and Jakub hasn´t done anything.

There´s a timeline that shows his previous project before Scythe (WARCANTO) and the sudden jump in skill/ complete change of theme. He went from struggling with basic stuff like anatomy, perspective and lighting to suddenly making photorealistic renditions of subject matter that was totally foreign to him.

On top of that Jakub made some admissions when confronted two years ago. That´s from the master himself.

There are other circumstantial things like the fact that he´s removed all of his old projects.He´s been active since 2002 but his portfolio contains only Scythe and pictures from 2014 and on. This is the internet and people dug up his old stuff. Looks bad and nothing like the Scythe stuff.

Fans have asked him to do a video tutorial but he has declined. This is something digital artist do all the time. It´s a good way to create even more hype, gain respect and give something back to the community. It doesn´t require a lot of resources or time but for some unknown reson Jakub doesn´t want to do it.

He repeats the same motif. Characters in his pictures are static and never interact with anything. It´s because his illustrations are cut´n´paste collages and it´s alsmot impossible to make a dynamic composition if your working with cut-outs from different sources.

At this point the only thing left is if somebody breaks into his house and actually films him tracing other people art if you need definitive proof but I guess some people would question that to.

There´s the saying ‘It’s Easier to Fool People Than to Convince Them That They Have Been Fooled’. That´s kinda what the whole jakub Rozalski thing feels like.

Don´t take my word for it. Dig in, look at it from all angles yourself . Talk to some artist freinds and get their expert view on it. It ok to question but at lest have an open mind.

Don´t take my word for it. Dig in, look at it from all angles yourself . Talk to some artist freinds and get their expert view on it. It ok to question but at lest have an open mind.

Citations are your friend.

You're making the claim; it's up to you to back it up.

I did a quick Google and he's already posted several items on it. It's not rocket science...the designer even responded earlier this year. It's a legitimate concern to prospective purchasers of the game that it utilizes potentially derivative/"stolen" artwork. So a relevant counterpoint to any Scythe review, I'd say.

I can provide more material. What I meant and what I´m asking for is that you take a proper look before you dismiss the evidence. Most of it is in the first link anyways. I don´t know if it´s the latest one but there´s more than enough of tracing examples. They also show his removed pre-trace art and the striking similarities to Dust Tactics.

This covers most of it.Jakub has made certain admissions two years ago and that´s on his Art Station profile and Jamey has adressed the issue on Reddit. I can spend time and dig it up but some people will continue to question every detail. It´s late and I´ve wasted enough time.Night boys and girls

I did a quick Google and he's already posted several items on it. It's not rocket science...the designer even responded earlier this year. It's a legitimate concern to prospective purchasers of the game that it utilizes potentially derivative/"stolen" artwork. So a relevant counterpoint to any Scythe review, I'd say.

How is it a concern for prospective purchasers? The game is the game at this point. I can see how it would be a concern to future game designers/clients, but not so much for people just looking for a new game to play.

I can't believe this review is complete. Because it misses the fact that Tabletop Simulator has had an OFFICIAL version of Scythe for at least a year now. Ignoring the cost of Tabletop Simulator itself, the Scythe DLC is about $5.

So for $20, you can get both Tabletop Simulator (on sale) and Scythe.

And yes, there are unofficial versions of it as well, but to say it wasn't available digitally officially is wrong.

I can't believe this review is complete. Because it misses the fact that Tabletop Simulator has had an OFFICIAL version of Scythe for at least a year now. Ignoring the cost of Tabletop Simulator itself, the Scythe DLC is about $5.

So for $20, you can get both Tabletop Simulator (on sale) and Scythe.

And yes, there are unofficial versions of it as well, but to say it wasn't available digitally officially is wrong.